Case Study: Using a travel management company for the first time

Before working with us, this client – the UK’s largest rental equipment provider and leading supplier of plant equipment – had previously always had a ‘do it yourself’ (DIY) approach to business travel. Yet, with more than 60 depots around the UK and thousands of employees travelling frequently across the country, they sought our services as a travel management company (TMC) to provide a centralised, efficient and cost-effective solution to their growing travel needs.

The booking process was fragmented, with individuals or their PAs booking accommodation and travel then claiming back expenses. This meant that their most frequent travellers were spending a significant proportion of their salaries each month up front, which could be difficult for those people to manage financially. Plus, as a business they wanted to improve clarity over travel spend as a whole.

The solution

We implemented a centralised booking process and automated Billback service, and the results have been hugely successful.

Through our proprietary software, LOGiC, we created a bespoke online travel booking portal for their business travellers, covering more than 3,000 registered users. It is a fully transparent hub for all their travel needs.

The portal offers detailed live data for spend tracking, as well as traveller tracking to help meet duty of care responsibilities.

Seamless transition from DIY to travel management company

After consulting with our clients on travel policy, we then built a booking system around their requirements complete with accommodation rate caps throughout the UK.

As with any big system changes, there can be resistance to new ways of working, but through our thorough consultation process plus effective communication and change management the transition was smooth and swift.

By using Inntel’s expertise and industry knowledge the client was able to shape and build a travel programme that is user friendly, fit for purpose and ensured all employees were trained to make the transition to the new solution a seamless one.

Hours of our client’s time saved

Through our Billback service, the client switched to paying for accommodation through us, centralising their invoicing, meaning no more hundreds of individual hotel expense claims to process.

Billback also allows us to accurately analyse expenditure by department, with files loaded automatically into their financial system, saving hours of time for the finance team.

Major cost efficiencies delivered

During our audits our client was surprised to learn that their total travel spend was close to £3 million, with the number of hotel room nights as well as rail and air travel much higher than expected.

Our travel programme and savings initiatives have resulted in more than £390k in total savings.

The user-friendly LOGiC portal offered a range of hotel options with optimum room rates. Parameters were set to maximum spend limits on rooms and fares, providing visibility and driving down unnecessary overspending.

Previously, the client had eight preferred locations. Since we monitored and accurately assessed demand, we implemented a hotel programme with 30 locations and reduced the average room rate, resulting in £34k savings in the first 12 months.

Forecasted savings for the next year is £46k.

What’s more, through booking behaviour training we were able to achieve significant savings on rail travel for this client, totalling an impressive £365k.

We also saved a further £8,000 in negotiated meetings, events and group savings.

Working with a TMC for the first time can be daunting, but with the right people and processes in place it can be a smooth, successful transition. As we’ve seen here, making the move can lead to big gains in terms of spend clarity, cost reduction and time saving.